


Hands

by juggieheadcoopers



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 06:19:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10713930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juggieheadcoopers/pseuds/juggieheadcoopers
Summary: Jughead can’t keep his hands off Betty whenever he’s sitting next to her, even when they’re with their friends, and Betty can’t stop smiling or blushing every time he does.





	Hands

Jughead slid onto the bench of the picnic table, his knee knocking into Betty’s as he settled into the seat next to her. As Betty glanced up to meet his gaze, she bit her bottom lip to hide the same smile that always threatened to creep onto her lips whenever Jughead was around.

“Can we please talk about this ridiculous photography assignment?” Veronica asked from her seat on the other side the table. “It makes less sense than the plot to that movie Kevin made us watch last week about that creepy humanoid duck alien thing.” 

Betty’s eyes drifted from her friends sitting at the other end of the table, to the boy sliding his hand onto her knee next to her.

“Hey, Howard the Duck is a classic and should be treated as such,” Kevin defended his movie of choice, pointing a finger at Veronica before reaching forward to grab a hand full of chips from the bag on the table. “Besides, the assignment seems pretty straight forward. Make a collage of the most meaningful experience from your past. Doesn’t really scream complex, pull-your-hair-out-after-six-cups-of-coffee-and-a-bottle-of-Advil, research assignment to me.” 

Gently, Betty placed a hand on Jughead’s arm, feeling the fabric of his jacket through her fingers as she focused her attention on the splintering piece of wood on the table.

“Yeah, but every meaningful experience I can think of involves expensive shoes or really fancy cheese and I don’t think Mr. Buckley will appreciate such sophisticated taste,” Veronica pointed out, crossing her legs underneath the table and leaning forward to take a bite of her salad. “What do you think Betty?”

Jughead intertwined his fingers through hers, his thumb gently rubbing the back of her hand as they locked eyes, completely oblivious to anything else happening in the world around them.

“Hmm?” Betty mumbled, her eyes never breaking Jughead’s gaze. Veronica raised a curious eyebrow at the couple, quickly bending down to find their interlocked hands resting comfortably between them under the table. 

“Are you kidding me?” Veronica gasped, turning to Kevin with wide eyes. “They’re totally holding hands under the table again!”

“Busted,” Kevin stood from the table to place a firm hand in the center of the wooden surface. “Drop em’ you two, we had a deal!”

“We tried, V, honestly,” Betty tried to explain, turning to Jughead and shrugging helplessly. “It’s like this gravitational pull that we can’t seem to break. Kind of like Kev and his bad taste in movies.” 

“First of all rude, second of all gag,” Kevin scrunched up his nose in disgust as he snatched the bag of potato chips from the table and shoved a handful into his mouth.

“Okay, whatever but can you two please stop caressing each other long enough to listen to me complaining about school and expensive shoes?” Veronica whined, shoving her lunch tray away from her to place her elbows on the surface. 

“Do we have a choice?” Jughead muttered. “Because I can think of about 734 other things I could be doing right now that sound like a better option than that.”

“Yeah, well, the one thing you really want to be doing right now is sitting right next to you so…” Kevin mumbled under his breath, tossing a chip into the air and catching it in his mouth. 

“Kev!” Betty protested, her cheeks beginning to turn a faint pink color that always gave away her embarrassment. 

“Oh, come on, you set that one up for me,” Kevin told her, his lips curling into a devilish smile as he set the bag of chips back onto the table. 

“He’s right you know,” Veronica agreed. “You fell right into the trap.” 

“I’m going to go get some more chips,” Jughead announced, standing from the picnic table and turning to Betty before walking back to the student lounge. “You want anything Bets?”

“No, I’m good thanks,” Betty smiled up at Jughead, their eyes lingering a second longer than necessary. 

Veronica cleared her throat, and the couple turned away from each other to glance uncomfortably at the ground. “Oh no, we’re good too, Jugs, thanks,” Veronica said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at him as she watched him walk up the hill. 

“You guys are the worst,” Betty informed them, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning forward on the table. 

“And you two are adorable,” Kevin swooned.

“Adorably annoying,” Veronica corrected him. “Seriously control the touchy feely stuff while we’re around would you? Otherwise you’re gonna have to find some other friends to ignore every time the two of you are within a few feet of each other.”

“We’re not that bad are we?” Betty wondered, her brows drawing together in concern as she thought back to all the times her friends had caught them with their hands all over each other when they were supposed to be hanging out as a group. 

“Trust me, you don’t want her to answer that, B,” Kevin warned her, turning to Veronica who simply to a sip of her water and shrugged. 

“I’m really sorry guys,” Betty apologized. “I promise to be a better friend, I’m just…”

“In love?” Kevin finished for her, raising an intrigued eyebrow and crumpling his empty chip bag before tossing it in the trashcan behind him. 

“What?” Betty gasped, her heart skipping a beat at the mention of the word ‘love.’ “No, I-”

“It’s okay to admit it, Betty,” Veronica cut her off, her face softening as she placed a gentle hand on Betty’s arm. “That boy can’t keep his eyes off you - or his hands it seems. I mean you’re literally his whole world. He obviously feels the same way.” 

“You think?” Betty asked, hoping with everything she had that Veronica was right. “Sometimes I’m not so sure.” 

“You should be,” Veronica assured her, grabbing her tray and turning in her seat to toss her empty salad container into the trash. “And you should tell him.” 

“Oh, I don’t…” Betty mumbled, fully prepared to tell Veronica that she couldn’t tell him something like that, at least not yet. But after a moment of thinking about how she had been dating Jughead for almost six months and that her heart raced every time she was in the same room as him, she started to think that telling him that she loved him wasn’t so crazy after all. “You really think I should?”

“I do,” Veronica nodded. “And I think you should tell him tonight.” 

“Tell who what?” Jughead snuck up behind Betty, wrapping an arm around her shoulders before returning to his spot next to her on the bench. 

“Nothing!” Betty said almost too quickly. “It’s nothing - um do you want to walk me home tonight after we finish up at the Blue and Gold? There’s something I kind of wanted to talk to you about.” 

“Absolutely,” Jughead told her, leaning forward to brush an eyelash off her cheek and smiling down at her. “Can’t wait.” 

“Yeah,” Betty beamed at him, her heart beating a mile a minute the way it always did when he was this close to her. “Me either.”


End file.
